USA: seven Haitians who participated in the Special Olympics disappear in Florida | International

Osceola County Sheriff’s Office

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A seventh member of the team Haiti who participated in the Special Olympics USA 2022in which people with intellectual disabilities competed, was reported missing by the Orlando (Florida) authorities, US media reported Monday.

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, where this competition is held, reported that 25-year-old Louis Jacques Wilguens was last seen getting off a bus at the complex. Walt Disney World Resort on Saturday, one day before he had to return to his home country.

At the time of his disappearance, Wilguens was wearing a white Special Olympics jersey from the delegation of Haiti, a country facing a serious economic, political and insecurity crisis.

Six other missing

This disappearance occurs following the US authorities began the search for six other members of the Haitian team that participated in those days in the tests in Orlando on the 6th.

The Osceola Police then indicated that they did not believe that the six disappeared were in danger and that this disappearance was related to a “criminal act”.

Then the organization of the Special Olympics explained that it was an adult with an intellectual disability and five other members of the Haitian delegation, but that they were not competing in Orlando.

As in that case, the Osceola Police published a poster with Wilguens’ photograph and basic information to try to gather information from the population, to whom the authorities asked for their collaboration.

Like the other six disappeared, Wilguens was part of the soccer team, a modality in which the Haitian won a mixed soccer 7 gold medal at the Abu Dhabi Special Olympics, held in 2019.

The Special Olympics USA was held from June 5 to 12 at the ESPN Wide World Sports complex, which belongs to the Walt Disney World complex.

According to the competition’s website, its “mission” is to provide “year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for people with intellectual disabilities who wish to participate.”

More than 5,500 athletes and coaches were expected to participate in these USA Special Olympics from all over the country and Caribbean countries, according to the organization.